


Ono/Lennon

by fhsa_archivist



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Alternate Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-01-12
Updated: 2005-01-12
Packaged: 2019-02-05 15:23:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12797238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fhsa_archivist/pseuds/fhsa_archivist
Summary: War is over, if you want it...





	Ono/Lennon

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Haven, the archivist: This story was originally archived at [Fandom Haven Story Archive (FHSA)](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Fandom_Haven_Story_Archive), was scheduled to shut down at the end of 2016. To preserve the archive, I began working with the OTW to transfer the stories to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. If you are this creator and the work hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Fandom Haven Story Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/fhsa/profile).

Fox Mulder had never been a man that had difficulty showing his emotions. He ranted, he teased and he cried, easily and without shame. True, sometimes the emotion he showed was a cover for the one he was actually feeling, but the fact remained, there wasn't a stoic bone in his body.

 

That was what had made watching the hearings so damn fun.

 

Half the world had tuned in to find out the truth, all of it, fascinated, terrified and addicted to knowing in excruciating detail who had done what to whom as well as when, where and why. They were struggling to rebuild their entire frame of political and personal reference, and the hearings with their exhaustive side-bars of minutia satisfied that need.

 

The other half of the world tuned in to catch the Fox Mulder show.

 

And it was quite a show.

 

Always volatile, Mulder didn't see any reason to change his ways just because the big moment had finally arrived. Oh, he tried to behave, tried to follow procedure and keep the sarcasm to a minimum. He even wore decent ties. But it didn't take long for that lightening fast wit and mouth to combine with deadly accuracy, and he didn't much care which target he took on first. After years of being belittled, scorned and discounted, his every word was suddenly gospel and his theories had become the new Bible.

 

Church was packed.

 

But Mulder gave no better show than the day Alex Krycek walked into the courtroom.

 

Emerald eyes sparkled dangerously beneath their covering of lashes, and dimples flirted from behind a smirk. Alex looked cool and deadly as he made his way casually down the aisle to the witness table. He was wearing a dark grey suit with just a hint of blue to it, tailored so perfectly it had to have been handmade, just for him. His hair had grown out a bit, and was an effective contrast between sharp styling and soft waves and curls. He smoldered, and the temperature in the room suddenly rose ten degrees as he turned toward Mulder for the first time.

 

Alex smiled, a brilliant white smile, blinding and breathtaking. There was an audible sound of appreciation from the crowd as Alex was instantly transformed from sinner to saint.

 

That audible sound was quickly drowned out by a bellow of pure rage from Mulder. Literally coming across his own table, only the quick reflexes of the bailiffs kept him from wrapping his hands around Alex's neck.

 

While gavels banged, Mulder raged and the press snapped pictures like pirhannas with a ham steak, Alex laughed, a bright, bell-like sound that held nothing but joy.

 

Mulder's next lunge was duly inspired and slightly more successful, and the air in front of Alex's face ruffled from a thrown fist. Alex didn't even flinch, and though he did stop laughing, he only smiled the same serene, iconistic smile.

 

When court resumed some two hours later, Mulder appeared to be in control. His body was tight as a bowstring and his voice and eyes belied his calmly asked questions. He kept his seat and his temper as he questioned Alex, though no one could miss the fever brightness of his eyes, nor the clenched fists resting on the tabletop.

 

Alex, for his part, still looked to be the essence of calm, but his smile disappeared as he talked. Alex had a lot to say, and now that his life wasn't dependent on keeping things secret, he said it all. Years of rigid controls were put aside in an instant, and Alex answered every question completely and honestly.

 

Mulder seemed to know it was all true, because he made no attempt to refute the testimony, only stopping Alex to clarify or make a point before letting him resume.

 

The courtroom was silent as he spoke, these were the deep, inside secrets, the dirty laundry, the juicy bits. Alex told everything, not trying to hide his own part. He told of every kill, every double-cross, every false deed.

 

At last, after almost three weeks of testimony, Alex was finished. He'd told absolutely everything he'd ever seen, heard or done. He was tired, the strain showing in fine lines and soft smudges under his eyes, but he remained a study in almost feline placidity.

 

"I have only one more question for the witness." Mulder spoke softly. The last few days had brought about a change. He no longer glared death at Alex, was no longer a study in contained fury. He'd begun to slow, to look pensive and even sad. There were times when his features took on a haunted look, and each day when he arrived, he spent the first five minutes before starting to simply stare at Alex.

 

It was a thoughtful look, the same one he wore now, and Alex gave a small sigh of relief that the whole thing was almost over. He gave Mulder his full attention, and his air of calm was startled away by the sight of tears slowly trailing down Mulder's face.

 

"Alex Krycek, I have hated you and I have wronged you. I'm not going to ask for your forgiveness, I have no right. But, I would like to apologize, if only to grant you the satisfaction of telling me in front of the world what to do with it." The chairman was banging his gavel at this obvious switch to the personal, demanding that Mulder refrain from saying anything more, but Mulder, of course, ignored him.

 

"My last question is simply this: Will you allow me to apologize to you, here and now, with the universe as my witness?"

 

Alex, for the first time since taking his oath, was stunned into silence. His throat was tight with emotion, his eyes darkened to near black, and his lower lip trembled visibly. He tried to swallow, couldn't. His mouth shaped the yes, but there was no sound to go with it. At last, he simply nodded.

 

Having given up on stopping Mulder, the gavel banging had ceased, and now silence reigned in the courtroom as Mulder stood, made his way over to Alex's table and knelt before him.

 

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all of it, sorry for every misjudgement and unfair accusation, every hit and every harsh word. I was wrong. I was wrong, and you have my sincerest apologies. I'm sorry." 

 

The tears were a steady flow, but Mulder paid no attention to them as he continued to kneel before Alex. The world held it's breath to see what would happen next.

 

A single tear made its way down Alex's cheek, and he closed his eyes for just a moment, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. He opened them again, and with an uncertian hand, reached out and raised Mulder's face.

 

"Thank you." It was all Alex said, all he could say, and then he pushed back his chair. Standing, he took Mulder's elbow, raising the other man to his feet. They said nothing, only looked at each other for a long time, then Alex turned and left the courtroom.

 

Watching him leave, Mulder couldn't help but think it was a damn good start.

 

A year later...

 

"Did you get the ice cream?"

 

Alex was rummaging through the bags, one of which was still in Mulder's hands.

 

"Yes, Alex, I got the ice cream. But you can't have any until after dinner. I worked too hard and too long on this meal for you to spoil it by taking out a pint of 'From Russia With Buzz'. Ben and Jerry's is not a food group. Now, stop pouting, set the table and go pick us a wine."

 

Alex, who had been pouting rather prettily, gave in with a roll of his eyes. He turned to leave, only to have Mulder's hand catch his arm, turning him back around. Mulder smiled at him, a sweet smile that brought a match from Alex, just for seeing it.

 

"I may have denied you ice cream, but I do love you."

 

"I know. That's why I let you."

 

"No, you let me because you love me back."

 

"Yeah, that too."

 

Alex leaned in, captured the mouth that gave so generously under his own, and decided that anniversaries weren't so bad after all.


End file.
